How time flies. It’s time again for our semi-annual newsletter. Let me start by thanking all of you who have been so supportive of this new practice. We have had the opportunity to serve >500 children in our first 5 months and plan on continuing to expand. We offer 24 hour availability of a pediatric and adult board-certified neurosurgeon and have added full time nurse coverage with PICU and NICU experience. The American Association of Neurological Surgeons was in town earlier this month and I had the opportunity to give a plenary talk on MEDICO- ECONOMIC REALITIES IN A CHANGING MARKETPLACE. We continue to work diligently to maintain high quality of care to our patients while struggling with re-imbursement and medical liability issues.

While partnering with the 2 Epilepsy Monitoring units in Orlando(at Florida Hospital Orlando and Lucerne-ORMC), I have had the opportunity to initiate the surgical component of our epilepsy program. The original data was also presented at the AANS and is printed to the right. I must thank the neurologists with whom I work closely in facilitating such good outcomes.

Please let me know how I or my office may better serve you and your patients. We appreciate the opportunity to care for the children of Central Florida. In order to better coordinate referrals, 2 of my business cards are enclosed.

EFFICACY OF VAGUS NERVE STIMULATION IN THE CONTROL OF EPILEPSY IN A PRIMARILY PEDIATRIC POPULATION

Intractable epilepsy is a debilitating, life-altering disease. It has been estimated that greater than 600,000 patients fail medical management of their epilepsy. Alternative therapies, including surgical interventions, have become more common in recent years. We present our series of the first 40 patients implanted with a vagus nerve stimulator(VNS) in a primarily pediatric population. Of the 40 patients in this study, all noted a reduction in seizure frequency(mean reduction 88% at 6 months). Other benefits included a reduction in medications(from a mean of 3.4 to 2.1) and an increase in quality of life indicators. There were no serious complications in our patients. Vagus nerve stimulation should be included in the arsenal of treatment of refractory epilepsy.

This comic was my last slide for my talk at the AANS. I hope that medicine does not come to this but we all know the pressures are there.